Young Gods
by phoenixyfriend
Summary: Yugito's touch means death for all who suffer it. She can deal with that. This also means that coming into contact with an immortal has... strange consequences.
1. Kiss of Death

**A/N: This was written for the Sumigakure Halloween Event of 2016 on tumblr. The first chapter is based on the prompt "Kiss of Death." I sent it into territory similar to Rogue from the X-Men at first, and then it just got... weird.**

o.o.o.o.o

Nii Yugito knows from the day she becomes the Nibi Jinchuuriki that she will likely never find love.

Well, not the romantic kind, anyway.

She's mostly okay with that?

(It takes Yugito years to realize that she doesn't mind the idea of never kissing anyone. The world spends so much time convincing her that her goal is to get married that it almost succeeds.)

Yugito will never know a lover's caress, a spouse's kiss, the feel of sexual intimacy. She knows this like she knows every other danger of hosting Matatabi:

She must never touch anyone for too long, or they will die.

The Nibi, far more than any of the other bijuu, is an entity of death. Death may follow some of the others, for sure, but they are… side effects, ultimately. They embody destruction, hatred, bloodshed, fear. They cause revulsion, and passion, and any number of emotions and ideas capable of causing death.

But they do not _tie_ themselves to it as Matatabi does. Nekomata or Bakeneko, spirit cats are creatures tied to death. Seeing the dead, controlling them, channeling them… once Yugito gains control of the Nibi, she will be capable of it.

From the beginning, though, her touch confers death.

Yugito is lucky, in some senses. She is comfortable enough with contact that only occurs through cloth. She is only two when she becomes a jinchuuriki, and while her training is what many would call abusive, she still has a caretaker, and Bee, who are willing enough to hug her in her early years and otherwise give her the physical affection human beings generally need at such an age. She can't have skin-to-skin contact, of course, or she'll suck the very life out of them, but they do enough.

(Bee himself is only seven years older than Yugito, but he's old enough to consider himself one of the big kids from the very start. They meet when Bee is already in his double digits, and Yugito is still short enough that people don't realize who she is on first glance, just thinking that she's a normal child, all tiny and cute. He cares for her, in his own way, and he's… silly. That's okay. From the beginning, Yugito needs a little more silly in her life.)

She wears gloves and long sleeves and long pants that cover everything. On the rare occasions that someone brings the issue up, she lets a Cheshire grin curl over her face, pulls off a glove, and wiggles her fingers in their direction.

"Would you like to see why?"

Her eyes gleam when she does that, she knows. Matatabi likes to see he play with people, to take her petty enjoyment when they press too hard on subjects they shouldn't. If her eyes turn green and blue, with slit pupils and fire in her iris, then it's nothing anyone can prove, gone as it is by the time anyone other than her target thinks to check.

They usually stop asking questions around that time.

Yugito wonders, at one point, why the Raikage never sends her on missions to assassinate someone by faking sexual interest.

She figures he knows she isn't interested in anything like that, and realizes that sneaking in and sucking the life out with a single touch is harder to trace than the fake lover dozens could have seen the target with.

(The Raikage doesn't care about Yugito's preferences, ultimately. He just thinks she's more useful on the battlefield than on missions where a flinch of disgust could ruin the whole thing.)

(Yugito thought for a very long time that she was simply a late bloomer. She later finds out the meaning of 'asexual' and 'aromantic' and holds those words close to her chest, wears them like a shield, and tells Bee once in a while how grateful she is that of all the people to get Matatabi, it was one of the few for whom the loss of sex was no real loss at all.)

Yugito's touch does not kill immediately. A glancing blow does little beyond momentary wooziness, a handshake perhaps an hour's fatigue.

But it's so very hard to notice.

Yugito _can_ fake romance, somewhat. She can smile warmly and cradle someone's chin in her hand, at least, and that's all she needs. Their lives drain out into her, and she'll never tell anyone of the high she gains from killing. It's not just adrenaline, for her. There's a Pavlovian response, there, where killing makes her feel more alive than anything else. Even if she does not kill by draining (and she usually doesn't), she feels a phantom of that sensation, craves it despite her better nature.

(She takes more assassination missions than most, just to chase that addiction without spinning out of control.)

At the age of twenty-three, Matatabi finally accepts her friendship, and shares the secrets of the afterlife with her, shows her how to see and catch and cradle spirits as she should, how to chivvy them on to the Pure World when they linger and fester with the living. Yugito does not hunt for lost souls, but she follows their paths when their power touches hers, and sends them on. It's not quite a secret, but she keeps it to herself nonetheless.

She is twenty-nine when Akatsuki comes for her.

The bounty hunter stays back, mostly, watches as the pretty-boy with the scythe chases her with wild swings and wilder laughter. He is immortal, in his own words, and with how he shrugs off her most dangerous blows, shrugs off Matatabi's flames and claws, she's willing to consider it.

He nicks her, only once, but it's enough. He begins his ritual, stabs himself, and Yugito thinks _No_.

Matatabi provides her answer, which is simply _Kiss him._

Yugito doesn't know how that'll help, but it's a shred of a hope, so she grabs it with both hands and runs.

Well.

Actually.

She charges Hidan with what's left of her strength and power, knocking him from his circle and onto the ground. She straddles him, forces her mouth to his, and squeezes her eyes shut so she can just… not think about what she's doing.

 _Oh my god, this is so gross._

He taste like blood and char, and it's a familiar taste to a woman that breaths murder and arson. She feels Matatabi recede, purring as _life_ flows from Hidan to Yugito, tainted by something distant and ancient and powerful.

A terrified, broken sound escapes the man beneath her, but Yugito doesn't let go. She only listens harder for the partner, who seems content to see her slaughter the pretty man before interfering himself.

The life-force ebbs, but the distant power grows stronger, more fully present. Matatabi's purrs grow louder, and she urges Yugito to _stay where she is_.

Yugito doesn't let go.

She doesn't let go as she opens her eyes and sees the wide, glazed pink eyes of the man that tried to kill her. She doesn't let go as she realizes his skin has returned to its original tone, while hers is greying unnaturally by the minute. She doesn't let go as she feels that ancient power begin to form more fully in the back of her mind, screaming all the while. She doesn't let go as Matatabi yowls and attacks it, tearing it to shreds before it can ever finish forming, taking advantage of the ongoing weakness caused by being but a miniscule part of a whole, a smaller part of a god than Matatabi is of the original Beast.

She absorbs the entirety of the ancient god, but does so in such tiny pieces that Matatabi can prevent her from being absorbed by _it_ , and its power only joins hers.

She doesn't let go until there's nothing left in the empty corpse beneath her.

Yugito stands and faces the remaining Akatsuki, and wipes her mouth. Her hand is black and white, and she gets the feeling that she'd see a Jashinist's markings if she were to bother looking in a mirror.

When she speaks, her voice is layered with that of hundreds of others. ( _I am legion_ , she thinks, and laughs to herself. There is no one in her head save for herself and Matatabi, but _oh_ is there power.)

" **I have eaten an Elder God this night,** " She says, trying to strike the right balance between old speech and new to seem imposing without going so far as to seem silly. " **Pray that I do not set you in my sights next.** "

He eyes her for a moment, and then leaves in a Shunshin with only an annoyed "tch" to mark his passing.

Yugito waits a moment, and then collapses to the ground and laughs, laughs and cries and—

"Jashin-sama?"

She looks over to the man she'd thought dead, and sees him staring at her with something akin to wonder. Wonder and fear and hatred and adoration, all rolled together into a single expression.

" **Not quite.** " She says. He seems too weak to move beyond speaking and staring. She moves over to him, crouches and puts a hand to his cheek. He tries to flinch away, but there's nothing for it.

His skin is ice-cold, and something in her curdles and laughs as she realizes she is pulling nothing from him because he is _hers_ now. She has, in effect, taken the place of his god. She has become his god.

She focuses, and the drain restarts, but it stops as soon as she chooses to let it.

Yugito eyes him for a moment, and then stands. " **I shall deign to allow you to live. You are mine as you were Jashin's, as I have taken him within me and become what he once was. I am your god, and you shall serve me, or you will reject your religion and leave to lick your wounds. If you choose to follow me… I await you in Kumogakure.** "

New god or not, she has her loyalties. Even as Matatabi laughs, she returns home, and considers the fact that she has, most likely, gained a worshipper.

She only hopes he doesn't think the kiss is happening again. Ew. Gross. No.

(He shows up three days later, and follows her around like an errant puppy.)

(The Raikage isn't exactly _pleased_ , but…)

(Hey, there's another S-Rank that's loyal to Kumo by proxy, right? That's gotta count for something.)

(Bee thinks it's hilarious.)


	2. Modern Grim Reaper - Ruler of Hell

**A/N: This chapter was written for the Sumigakure Halloween Event of 2016 prompt "Modern Grim Reaper/Ruler of Hell." It kind of went all over the place, but I had fun with it.**

o.o.o.o.o

Hidan doesn't know what to think of what Jashin-sama has become.

Oh, he knows the woman isn't Jashin-sama, not really. His god has not taken a mortal woman's form by _choice_. She used Hidan as a channel and sucked out both his own life and his very god, and somehow left him alive.

(Possibly by accident. He doesn't ask, because then she might change her mind.)

So… Jashin-sama is somehow impossibly, terrifyingly, agonizingly _dead_. There is no whispered note of comfort in the back of his head, no reminder that even Hidan can have purpose, that even someone as fucked up as him can have a job that means something.

(Hidan knows he's not exactly perfect according to society. The Jashinist temples were the only places that ever took him in and said 'it's okay, you can have a greater purpose too.)

So… he turns to religion again. So his god has died and a new one has taken his place. She is older than him, at least, and powerful and deadly and already has some understanding of the job she's taken on as a new god of death.

She also doesn't seem interested in repeating the kiss from before. That's… a relief, honestly.

She does seem to find something hilarious and fascinating about taking his hand or touching his cheek or doing any number of things that put his skin to hers (with his old markings, and she looks terrifying and bold and regal in them, and she'd have made a wonderful Jashinist in another life, he thinks).

He remembers hearing stories that the Nibi Jinchuuriki tended to have a touch that somehow involved death. He hadn't expected it to be so literal, but as he watches the careful way she moves around people, he can see why she finds his presence comforting. She doesn't trust him at her back, but that's only common sense for most people.

(He cannot kill her. This, he knows. Her newfound immortality is more powerful than his ever was, and there are few that could take it from her. Her bijuu could possibly manage it. A Rinnegan, _maybe_. There are precious few options.)

He asks one night to teach her of Jashinist lore, to tell her what it is that his job was, what it was that Jashin-sama did.

Yugito-sama looks him in the eye, and nods once.

" **I've already some idea, Hidan.** " (And the way she says his name sends shivers down his spine. This is his new god speaking, and not only does she know his name, but she says it like it means something important. Only Jashin-sama ever did that, and it makes him feel like more of his old god survived than he thought.) " **I am not your Jashin, but I have some of his memories, bits of his knowledge. Matatabi knows more.** "

Matatabi. The Nibi. She is…

More than Hidan thought.

Hidan and Yugito go to the woods, and if some of the shinobi follow and cling to rock formations and bristled pines, it's not Hidan's business. His new god approves of their presence; it's not his place to judge who hears.

So he tells her stories. He weaves tales and legends, histories and fables, things he heard from scripture and things he heard from Jashin-sama himself.

(He mentions Kaguya and she bristles, demanding to know more.)

He tells her of the job she's taken on by becoming a New God, and she nods along and looks appropriately thoughtful, and considers.

" **I will need to speak with the Raikage,** " She tells him, and he already knows that she still has her loyalties, but it grates to hear a god speak like that. " **And I have no doubt that he will ask for some manner of compensation for the missions I will no longer be taking.** "

She reaches forward and touches his face, brushing a thumb along his cheekbone. He leans into the touch, because there's something both cold and warm to it, an ancient energy that quietly chants _JashinJashinJashin_ against his senses. Or, well, it's not actually _Jashin_ specifically, but that manner of power, that role in the world and…

It's Yugito-sama's power and role and legacy, now. She is now a god of death. She will do as she sees fit.

" **Your job will be changing, Hidan,** " She says, and he knew it was coming but it's still a blow. He will do as she asks, but it's still not something he hoped for. " **You will be collecting souls instead of killing people directly.** "

"I… can't actually detect souls that are already dead, Yugito-sama." He confesses.

She smiles, and her eyes glitter green and blue. " **Then let's fix that, shall we?** "

o.o.o.o.o

Yugito, in the end, is one of four Jinchuuriki left alive by the time the fourth war begins. Three, if one doesn't count the Kazekage, as he may be alive, but is lacking his bijuu.

Luckily for her, Bee is one of the others. She's grateful for that. He's one of her few real friends, and she trusts him more than anyone else.

She doesn't trust Hidan, but he follows her for the time being, not straying too far from Kumo when attending to his new duties. Akatsuki considers him a traitor, and Kumo doesn't like him, so he hangs around Yugito whenever possible. It's weird, but he hasn't tried to kill her again, and he tends to occupy himself with either silently standing behind her and looking intimidating, or cussing out anyone that isn't her.

She can order him around, though. It's kind of hilarious. She can keep it simple and just ask him to stop trying to cuss out the Raikage (the "do not cuss at" list expands a lot, but she leaves Bee off of it, because he doesn't care, and also that shit's hilarious). She can also ask him to get her a coffee or something while she's in a meeting or doing paperwork, and he'll _actually do it_. It's not even bad coffee. He's actually good at making her second-favorite drink. It's weird.

(Her favorite is milk, and no one is ever surprised by how much cream she asks for in her coffee.)

When the fourth war starts, Yugito tags along with Bee and Naruto to the Falls of Truth. Against her better judgment, Hidan joins them. He mostly entertains himself by arguing more with Bee, or trying to pick a fight with some of the island animals, or with that wood guy from Konoha.

The wood guy actually _grows her a shamisen_ as a thank you after she tells Hidan to cut it out. Wood guy, apparently called Yamato, is fond of making non-military things with his powers in his free time; he can't do strings for the shamisen, but he's a pleasant enough conversationalist. They end up talking about architecture, which she doesn't really understand, but has plenty of miniaturized examples to look at, courtesy of Yamato, and she's disappointed to see him leave.

"Fucking pansy."

" **Hidan, no.** "

The look he gives her is almost dirty, and she gleefully ruffles his hair as she walks past him, back towards Naruto and Bee.

o.o.o.o.o

Yugito sticks close to Naruto during the major battles of the fourth war. (Correction: she sticks close after one of her arms gets cut off and fed to the giant statue, because _apparently_ that's how Konoha nukenin solve their problems. By feeding people/limbs/bijuu to giant fucking statues.)

She sticks very close, because she can see the manifestation of chakra that is the Sage of the Six Paths and his sons crowding behind Naruto and Sasuke, and they beckon her.

("Someone ousted Jashin?" The Uchiha wonders, staring at the markings that stand bare and proud upon her skin. "Finally.")

("Fuck you," is Hidan's oh-so-eloquent response.)

So Yugito is there when Sasuke keeps them clear of the massive genjutsu (would she have been caught? She doesn't know), though Hidan isn't. She's okay with that.

But Kaguya's whole _thing_ is that she wants to suck all the chakra out of basically everything. She's good at it, too, and the Konoha team and the dead Hokage team have to employ hit-and-run tactics.

(Dead Hokage team. Zombie Hokage. Just… why. Why, Konoha, why. They see her and she has to waste a few minutes explaining what she is now. It's weird and complicated and the Nidaime looks way, way too interested in all this.)

("Tobirama, no." The Shodai Hokage insists.)

(The look on the Nidaime's face is delightfully stubborn.)

("Shodai-sama," the Yondaime, blond and beautiful even when flaking to bits and missing both arms, "I think that the appropriate phrase here is 'he does what he wants.'")

(Yugito thinks the appropriate phrase are "why are all the kage I've ever met except Sarutobi total weirdos?")

Anyway.

Kaguya sucks chakra.

Funnily enough, so does Yugito.

It's very awkward, because Yugito shucks off most of her outer layers, waits for the kids to create an opening, and goes in for a hug that's really more like strangulation. They spend a few minutes just trying to absorb each other, and it's a weird time all around, because Yugito is basically clinging to this woman's back as she tries to kill a bunch of teenagers, some zombies, a possibly not-evil Uchiha, and a very extraneous-feeling Hatake Kakashi.

 _You could try kissing her like you did Hidan_ , Matatabi's sluggish remnants suggest. _It certainly makes some of the effects more powerful._

Yugito would very much like to avoid kissing anyone ever again, thanks. It's weird and gross, and even weirder and grosser when they don't want her kissing them.

Yugito really wishes it were easier to attack Kaguya from this position, but she has enough trouble just _hanging on_ , let alone reaching up to stab out the woman's third eye or biting out her neck or something. The most she can do is curl her fingers inwards and try to grow out her claws in such a way that they pierce Kaguya's chest, which is a largely useless endeavor, as the woman does some weird thing with her bones to make it near impossible, because of course she does.

Yugito has to let go when the reverse harem happens, because even as dizzy as she is from all the attempts to fling her off, she can tell that it's a trap.

A hilarious trap, but still a trap.

(In the end, Yugito doesn't have to kiss Kaguya, because a bite with cat-sharp teeth works even better, and faster, and by the time the fight is over, Yugito brims with the power of two gods and feels like she might explode.)

(The Sage shows up to her as everyone wakes up, and they have a lovely little chat.)

(Yugito has a job lined up as soon as she dies for good, apparently, but since she's gone and made herself basically immortal, she gets to start now!)

(Hidan was right.)

(Ugh.)

She starts summoning the dead Hokage back from the dead for shits and giggles a few weeks later.

Matatabi finds it hilarious, and there's no better mind to have on your side than Senju Tobirama's when trying to figure out your new powers, right?

Right.


End file.
